Harvard to work on fix for parking

High school area lacks extra spaces

HARVARD – City officials will address longstanding parking issues surrounding Harvard High School events at an ordinance committee meeting next month.

But a long-term solution might ultimately need to include additional lot space near the school, City Administrator Dave Nelson said.

Attendees of sporting events and fundraisers at the high school, 1103 N. Jefferson St., Harvard, have had issues finding parking “for as long as I can remember,” Police Chief Daniel Kazy-Garey said. The limited space often causes cars to spill over into illegal parking.

Dennis Reilly raised the issue to the council after volunteering at a recent fundraiser at the high school. A request from police through the public address system called for individuals parked on Garfield Road to move their vehicles, saying they otherwise would be towed, Reilly said.

One side of Garfield Road has no parking while the other side is subject to the city’s “tree bank” ordinance, which makes it a violation to park in the grassy space between the road and the sidewalk.

“Half the people there are visitors. They don’t even know if they’re on Garfield,” Reilly told the council Tuesday night. “There aren’t signs there stating you can’t park, and you can’t rely on people from out of town to know our ordinances.”

Reilly, a candidate for the District 50 school board, said he hoped a solution could be found before graduation.

Nelson said he would begin coming up with a long-term fix for the problem, which he said could include adding more pavement. He didn’t know whether the project would fall to the city or the district to fund.